Luke 4: 1-13 - 17th February 2013 -1st Sunday in Lent
Overcoming temptation
There are many ways in which we are different to Jesus.
For example - He was completely good.
He could perform miracles.
He did absolutely nothing for himself
but gave himself completely to helping others.
Another way in which Jesus was different from us
is in the area of temptation,
because as far as we know, the devil only tempted Jesus 3 times,
and on one particular day,
whereas he tempts us many times,
and every day of our lives.
The devil is not stupid, but on the other hand he has his limitations.
He is not omniscient, knowing everything, as only God is.
He is not omnipotent, having all power, as only God is.
He is not omnipresent, being everywhere at the same time, as only God is.
There is nothing that God cannot do,
but Satan's attempts to sidetrack Jesus and divert him from his course failed.
Satan tried to undermine Jesus, believing he actually could do that,
but he had to give up when he found he couldn't,
but the devil knows that we are different to Jesus;
much weaker, and without any of the divine attributes Jesus possessed,
so he will not give up on us so easily.
Until our dying day the devil will exploit our weaknesses, our prejudices,
our guilt, our doubts,
our assurance of forgiveness, and our place in God's heart and family,
and God allows hi to do this,
but only for a time,
in order to strengthen our faith and dependence on Him,
but God will never permit the devil to lure us away from Him,
providing we cling to Him by faith.
The devil will only stop tempting, testing and tormenting us,
when he either knows we are completely holy and sanctified,
or when he knows he has us.
As the Bible seems to suggest that we will only be completely holy and sanctified
when we are dead and in the presence of the Lord,
that means we must either fight the devil every day,
or give in, as so many have done,
and while giving in,
taking the wide and easy road
rather than the straight and narrow one
will be easier in many ways,
we know that its consequences are terrible,
for if we give in to sin and never repent,
we will lose everything that Christ gained for us
by his suffering and death.
Adam and Eve were created with some amount of free will
because if they could NOT have decided to eat the forbidden fruit
then it would have been pointless for God to tell them not to east it,
and if they were DESTINED to eat it,
it would have been unfair for God to punish them for doing it,
and God should not have thrown them out of the Garden.
But the Bible says He did, and He can do no wrong,
so Adam and Eve, and every one of us must have free will
and therefore deserve reward when we do right
and punishment when we do wrong,
even though God, knowing everything, knows in advance what we will do.
Jesus was God incarnate through Mary.
He was wholly God and wholly man in one body.
In his divine nature, as a member of the Holy Trinity,
Jesus knew what the Father required of him,
but in his human nature, as the son of Mary,
he could have been disobedient,
which is why the devil tempted him.
Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday,
so we are now in Lent, and in the run-up to Good Friday and Easter
we remember the testing and temptation of Jesus
immediately after he was baptised.
He was tempted at other times, but not directly by the devil.
For example, when he was transfigured along with Moses and Elijah,
when Peter offered to build tents for the 3 of them,
there must have been a temptation to stop there
and rest on his laurels in what people call 'a comfort zone',
but he did not.
And just before he was arrested,
he could have ran away and hid,
and lived to a ripe old age,
but he didn't.
Even fully aware of what would happen to him,
he was obedient to his Father,
prepared to suffer in many ways and even go to the cross for us.
Jesus had free will and he obeyed God,
and in Romans St Paul gives us the assurance
that nothing can separate us from the love of God,
neither death nor life, nor angels or demons,
neither height nor depth,
nor anything in creation,
providing we fight against temptation
and stay close to Him.
If God is for us, it does not matter who is against us.
We are more than conquerors,
not because of anything we have done,
but because of Christ,
and if we do exercise our God-given free will wrongly,
and give in to temptation and fall into sin,
providing we admit our mistakes and repent,
God, like the loving father in the Parable of the Prodigal Son,
will always take us back,
because we belong to Him,
and He will not allow us to be snatched out of His hand.
So, how do we overcome temptation?
I can think of 4 ways, but there are probably more.
First of all:
we overcome temptation by first of all not giving the devil an 'open goal'.
If we are tempted to overspend - we should keep away from shops, or leave the Visa Card or cheque book at home until we are sure we really need whatever it is.
If someone is tempted by new cars - they should keep away from garage forecourts and not read car magazines.
If someone is tempted by the latest gadgets - they should stay clear of Curry's and electrical shops.
If someone is tempted by fatty foods - they should keep away from Macdonalds and Burger King.
If someone is tempted to gossip - they should avoid people who love to listen to tittle-tattle.
If someone is tempted by alcohol - they should keep away from pubs and Off-licences.
All this is obvious, but sometimes we make the devils job easier.
Secondly,
we overcome temptation by reading the Bible more;
spending more time considering the history of God's people BC,
the actions and experiences of the apostles in Acts,
the trials and tribulations of the first Christians in the letters of Paul and Peter.
We overcome temptation by reading the Law,
the commandments and the rules in the Old Testament,
and considering what happened to individuals and whole nations
when they did not keep them.
The threat of losing our relationship with God
and not spending eternity with Him and the saints
should put us off fro sinning if nothing else does.
Our words should be the same as those of King David who said
'My delight is in the Law'
and 'I meditate on Your statutes day and night'.
How did Jesus overcome the three temptations?
By quoting the Scriptures which he had obviously read, meditated on,
and memorised.
Can any of us say that we spend too long reading our Bibles?
Thirdly,
we overcome temptation by prayer.
The telephone line to God is never engaged or faulty.
In ways that we could never understand,
even if every single person in the world prayed to God at the same time,
He would hear every individual prayer,
and there is no matter too great that He is powerless to do something about it,
and no matter too small that He wouldn't want to waste time listening about.
He wants us to thank Him for what blessings we have received,
ask Him for forgiveness for our sins,
and take our needs and those of others to Him,
and if we are not confident enough just to speak to Him
as we would speak to our earthly father or our best friend,
then He has given us the Lord's Prayer to recite.
Fourthly,
we overcome temptation by Christian fellowship.
Just as alcoholics go to AA meetings for mutual support and encouragement,
so we come to church - to worship God, yes,
to confess our sins and receive His absolution - yes,
to learn more about God from His word - yes,
but also by spending time with each other,
as brothers and sisters in Christ.
God loves us and our baptism assures us that God will always forgive us when we sin,
but this does not mean that we can exercise our God-given free will
by sinning as much as we like,
in the belief that God, because of His love and grace,
will go on forgiving us,
seventy-times seven times.
Yes, thank God,
He WILL forgive us when we sin and sincerely regret it and ask for His forgiveness,
but this is no excuse to deliberately go on
doing the things that go against His will.
During Lent let us remember the temptations and suffering of Jesus,
and let us ask God to give us whatever grace and strength we need
to be more than conquerors in the particular situation we find ourselves in.
It will not be easy,
and only God knows how much any of us will have to suffer in the future,
but His Word
and the example of Jesus, and the teaching of Paul,
assures us that He knows
and He is with us and He will never leave us or forsake us.
The message for today is contained in the words of the old hymn;
'Yield not to temptation, for yielding is sin.
But note those important words 'for yielding is sin' - yielding, giving in.
It is not a sin to be tempted;
Jesus was tempted, but he never sinned, because he never yielded.
We will be tempted very day of our lives,
but with God's help, we will not yield.
Let that be our aim and our prayer.
Amen and the peace of God …………………….
